ETAC

I am going to try something new today.  I am going to try to post to my blog during the daylight hours instead of the crack of dawn after my wife says, "See you later pal.  I'm going to bed."  So in the hopes of keeping my other house in order, here you go.

Today I attended an executive board meeting of a regional information sharing initiative called ETAC, for long, Emerging Threat Analysis Center.  ETAC is an on-line investigative tool in which most of the larger law enforcement agencies in the Kansas City Metro dump their records management systems information into a central depository.  This central depository of information can be accessed by field personnel, detectives, and dispatchers.  In the old days (last year), police personnel were only able to see the information contained in their own records systems.  With ETAC's roll out, police personnel can see any information listed for an individual or location from those agencies involved in the initiative.  This type of broad information sharing makes local police agencies more efficient and effective in crime fighting and terrorism prevention since criminals and terrorists do not respect the boundary lines of cities, counties, or states. 

Bailed Out By A Fellow Blogger

Last Friday night I received a nice email from Sarah Darby who said she is the news editor of the JagWire Newspaper at Mill Valley High School.  Sarah said she noticed that I had started a blog for Shawnee's web site about police happenings.  She said she writes a continual local news blog for the online version of her school's paper and she would love to interview me about my blog and position as the new cheif of police for the City.Well I had a nice conversation with Sarah on Monday, and this afternoon she emailed me the link to her post.  So instead of me posting my own story, Sarah bailed me out and I am going to direct you to her blog.  By the way...after you have read Sarah's posting, please leave her a comment.  Even though I have been at this a short time, I know every blogger looks forward to the opportunity to have a dialog with their audience, or at least the acknowledgement that someone is reading their content.  Thanks.

http://www.mvnews.org/opinion/2011/03/29/shawnee-police-chief-larry-larimore-discusses-daily-blog-and-social-media-strategy/

Master Police Officer Mike Powell - January 15, 1980 to March 21, 2011

Today, we hosted a reception for Master Police Officer Mike Powell who officially retired from the Shawnee Police Department on March 21, 2011 after thirty-one years of faithful service.  For the last twenty-six years, Mike was a police canine officer.  Mike is a highly regarded police canine and handler trainer, and held executive board officer positions on the National Police Canine Association and the Kansas Police Dog Association.  Mike and his dogs throughout the years have conducted tracks for dangerous persons and searches for drugs and weapons for just about every law enforcement agency in the Kansas City Metro area.  Mike’s retirement reception was filled with family, friends, co-workers, professional acquaintances, and well-wishers.  He will really be missed.

Now here is a little "behind the scenes" entertainment I promised in my first post.  As Chief, my job is to host these types of receptions while mostly being solemn and respectful.  The problem is in this case I worked with Mike for the past twenty-five years, so I know what kind of character he is.  By character I mean he was a lot of fun to work with.  So at his reception today I spun a little yarn about Mike.  It’s was about how dogs and their owners often look and act alike.

This incident took place back in the early 1990’s.  The time was about 11 pm so it was dark out.  Mitch Brim just got off work as the evening shift supervisor and I was working as the evening shift detective. Mitch and I were riding home together in Mitch’s truck that night because we shared rides because we both lived about an hour south of here back in those days.  We just left the QuikTrip on Nieman where Mitch purchased his “driving home snack” of a half-quart of milk and a sleeve of cookies, when I got a page from dispatch stating there had been a robbery at a sandwich shop on 75^th Street.  

I was on-call that night because I was the evening shift detective and I knew Mitch was game if it involved chasing a bad guy, so we drove to the scene to see if there was anything we could do. We arrived only a few minutes after the first responding patrol units.  The officers were going about their jobs of interviewing the victim clerk and beginning to look around the area for the suspect. 

I remember Mike showing up not to long after we did and he was doing what he does best, mostly standing around looking for trouble, when a guy matching the suspect’s description comes running out of the front door of a bar located close to the sandwich shop and started heading west across the parking lots back towards the shop.  It turns out that the officers checking behind the businesses found the back door to the bar open so they walked in and seated at the bar was a guy matching the suspect description.  So naturally, when he saw the officers, the guy took off out the front door.

Officers came out the same door giving chase, when I saw Mike Powell out of the corner of my eye starting to run at an angle to intersect this guy.  If anybody has seen a patrol dog chase down a bad guy, it’s the same way.  If the bad guy is running, they take an angle approach to intersect.  So this is where the story gets interesting “with all due respect.”

As Mike was running I see him go down onto all fours and start gaining ground on the guy. I had to rub my eyes because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  Then as Mike catches up with the guy, he takes him down to the ground just like a patrol dog would, you know like knock them down and then looking for someplace to get a bite on.  I remember Mitch and I were the first officers to catch up because they were running direcly towards us.  As I approach the two, Mike biting this guy on the lower leg and all I hear is “GRRRRRRR.”  I yell, “Losa, Losa,” and for those of you who don’t speak Belgium,” Losa” is a patrol dog command that means OUT, or quit biting. 

So, Mike’s not outing after a couple of more times of me yelling at him, so I grab him by the collar and pull him off the guy and now I can hear what he has been saying to the guy as he had his leg in his mouth.  Do you want to know what he was saying over and over? 

Classic Mike Powell, “Please sir, stop resisting,” over and over again.  So professional all the time, what can I say.  So I gave him a couple “Zoza Bra’s”, translation again for  non-Belgium speakers – “Good Boy, Good Boy”, then scratched him behind the ear and his leg went like that (shaking my leg) and I threw him a piece of PVC pipe to chew on.  That’s all it takes to make Mike happy. 

Now, I may have taken a little writer’s liberty with some of the facts in this story, and by saying that I know my college creative writing teacher would be proud.  The problem is about 90% of this story is true, and most fun is no one knows which ten percent isn’t but me.

Mike – Thank you for your service to the City of Shawnee and the women and men of the Shawnee Police Department for the past 31 years.  You will be missed …at least for the next thirty days until you return as a community service officer. 

Shawnee Tomorrow Leadership Program

I am up late tonight getting ready for a retirement celebration tomorrow.  Shawnee Police Officer Mike Powell is retiring after more than thirty-one years of service to the City of Shawnee, and really to the Kansas City area.  But more about Mike in tomorrow's post.

Today I was out of the office attending "Health Care Day" with the 2011 Class of the Shawnee Tomorrow Leadership Program.  Shawnee Tomorrow is a community leadership development program founded in 1989 by the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce. The goal is to continuously develop individuals with the willingness, desire and capabilities to assume leadership roles within the Shawnee community, Johnson County and the State of Kansas and beyond.  The Chamber's Senior Vice President Mary Taylor does a great job of overseeing the program.

For more information on Shawnee Tomorrow please follow this link:

http://www.shawneekschamber.com/about/about-tomorrow.html 

My Staff

Wednesdays are really busy days at the Shawnee Police Department and today was no exception. The Police Department’s Command Staff normally meets on Wednesdays to discuss the last week’s happenings and plans for the future. After meeting with my staff today I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce them to you. They are an exceptional group of people.

As I mentioned before Deputy Chief Rob Moser oversees all Police Department operations. Rob is a nineteen-year veteran of the Shawnee Police Department and has commanded the Patrol and Staff Services Divisions in the past.  He is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy.

Captain Bill Hisle commands the Patrol Division of the Police Department. Bill has the unique distinction of being the first DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer in the State of Kansas. Bill was instrumental implementing the department’s Professional Standards Unit and has commanded the Staff Service Division in the past. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command.

Captain Dan Tennis commands the newly formed Support Services Division. In June 2010, we combined the old Investigations and Staff Services Divisions to form Support Services. Dan spent many years in the Investigations Division, and in the past served as a board member of the Sunflower House. Dan is also a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy.

Lieutenant Mark Hein currently serves as a watch commander in the Patrol Division. Mark served as a DARE Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Training Sergeant, and Professional Standards Unit Commander. Mark was instrumental in the planning and construction of the Shawnee Justice Center.

Lieutenant Doug Orbin currently serves as the Commander of the Staff Services Bureau. Doug most notably served as the Sergeant of the Traffic Safety Unit when it first developed and implemented in 2002. He will be a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy in the near future.

Lieutenant Jodi Andrews currently serves as the Commander of the Investigations Bureau. Jodi served as a DARE Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, and Traffic Safety Unit Sergeant prior to being promoted to Lieutenant. Jodi recently led the department’s conversion to digital in-car video systems in our patrol vehicles.

Lieutenant Mitch Brim currently serves as a Watch Commander in the Patrol Division. Mitch has served in many capacities in the department, but most notably led the development of the department’s Special Tactics and Response Team throughout the years.  Mitch is one of the department’s Patrol and Special Police Tactics Trainers.

Greg Collins serves as the department’s Planning and Research Manager. Greg is a retired Shawnee Police Sergeant, and is responsible for advising the commanders on legislative activities and policy matters. Greg is a Crossfit Fitness Level 1 Trainer.

Susan Smith serves as the department’s Crime Analyst. Susan advises the commanders of our regional crime patterns and trends, the way they affect a particular geographic area, and how we can appropriately respond to them. Dr. Susan Smith (abd) is working on her dissertation to complete her Doctorate of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration, Specialization in Criminal Justice Program.

Last but not least is Marsha Toler, the Command Staff’s Administrative Professional. Marsha keeps the circus moving and on track. She recently completed a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

The short descriptions above do not even scratch the surface of these individuals. Please refer to the department’s web page for more information on their backgrounds. Our Command Staff has more than 235 years of combined public service in the law enforcement profession. It’s been said one way to determine a leader’s competence, as well as their confidence, is to look at the people around them. If that statement is true, then I am one lucky individual.

My First Day

Hello… My name is Larry Larimore and today is my first day on the job as Chief of Police in Shawnee, Kansas (I know...sounds like the start of a paper we did in grade school).  I have been a Shawnee police officer for twenty-five years now, and before my current promotion, I served as Deputy Chief to now retired Police Chief Jim Morgan.  When Jim announced he was planning to retire last summer, I immediately let City Manager Carol Gonzales know that I would love to have the opportunity to lead this fantastic Department and I had several ideas of what I would do as Chief.  One of my ideas was to have our Police Department develop and implement a social media strategy.  We recognize that social media sites are rapidly becoming a norm in the way people and organizations communicate.  Through the use of these communication methods, the Police Department can spread our message by reaching a larger and diverse audience.  Creating this blog is part of that strategy.  


Back in January 2011, before I was even appointed Chief, I spoke with the City's Social Media Guru Bridget Moser and presented my idea.  She shared some valuable insight and then pointed me towards Susan Bedsaul, the City's Web Development Manager.  I told Susan about my idea and she said it would be easy to set up a blog and link it to the City's web page and the City's social media sites.  As a matter of fact, before I even had time to drive back to my office, Bridget and Susan already had my blog set up and named.  Thank you Bridget and Susan for getting me started.      


The purpose of my blog is to share some behind the scenes look at the Shawnee Police Department.  I plan on posting a mix of entertaining community-oriented information, crime and criminal happenings, crime prevention tips, and commendable performances by our staff.  The schedule of a police chief in a City as large as ours can be very hectic, but I plan to post as often as possible.  If you would like to share your comments, I would be happy to read them and pass them on if necessary.  All I ask is that any comments are constructive in nature, and for that I thank you in advance.  Please come back and read more about our Police Department and our cast of characters. I can promise it will be entertaining, and I have assembled a crack group of reporters and they should be funneling me the GOOD stuff. 


Last thing before I sign off…I would like the thank Deputy Chief Rob Moser in advance.  Rob is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations at our Department, and with the ship in his very capable hands, I am free to do things like this and promote our Department as one of the best in the Country.


More to come…